June Government Relations Update
On May 28 at ACCA’s AGM the members voted in favour of ACCA’s Government Relations (GR) engagement on five public policy issues in support of its members, as follows:
Maintaining Co-op Autonomy in support of Rural Electric Associations (REAs)
Securing Federal Fuel Charge rebates for bad debt
Expanding Alberta’s Critical Worker Benefit program to support essential, front-line workers through COVID-19 recovery
Supporting co-op pharmacies desire to promote profit sharing on the purchase of drugs
Seeking a co-op investment tax credit program from the Government of Alberta
Issues of focus
These five issues have now been added to the GR policy issues roster, which already included one from last year: seeking full exemption from the registration (s. 75) and prospectus requirements (s. 110) of the Alberta Securities Act for co-ops of all sizes who wish raise capital from members.
Next Steps
ACCA has started preparing for advocacy with directly affected co-operatives on all six issues above. The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) recently launched a consultation on reducing the burden of raising capital for small businesses (including co-operatives) and ACCA will be submitting its response before the end of June. Also, the departments of Energy and Agriculture and Forestry launched a consultation with affected electricity distributors/retailers and related stakeholders regarding changes requested by the Alberta Federation of REAs (AFREA) and EQUS for better-operating conditions. Selected REAs and the AFREA has, or will be, responding to that consultation and will meet with Associate Minister of Gas and Electricity, the Hon. Dale Nally, during the week of June 21. ACCA and its member REAs will update our issue advocacy plan once that meeting has been held.
AB Legislature Update
The second session Alberta’s 30th Legislature concluded its business on June 16 after 116 sitting days. The Legislature passed 72 government bills, 5 private member bills and 1 private bill. The Legislative Assembly will convene again on October 25, 2021. The second session of the 43rd Parliament is still in session. At the time of writing, the House of Commons and Senate is scheduled to wrap up business by June 23, with a possible additional day June 25 for the Senate. The sitting calendar is showing coming back on September 20, 2021, but there are strong indications that we may be heading into a federal election soon. In Alberta, the date for municipal elections and to elect federal Senator nominees will take place on October 18, 2021.